Chinese idiom · 成语
鹬蚌相争
Meaning
The snipe and clam fight; a third party benefits from others’ conflict.
Character by character
Origin and story
FableZhanguo Ce (戰國策), Yan Ce II (燕策二), records Su Dai trying to dissuade Zhao from attacking Yan. He tells of a clam exposing itself beside the Yi River when a snipe pecks at its flesh. The clam clamps its shell around the bird’s beak. Each threatens to outlast the other, and neither releases its grip. A fisherman catches both.
Su Dai applies the fable to the two states: a prolonged struggle would exhaust Yan and Zhao, leaving powerful Qin to benefit like the fisherman. The idiom often appears with 渔翁得利, emphasizing the third party’s advantage from a mutually damaging quarrel.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
我们两家店别再鹬蚌相争了，只会让其他对手抢走顾客。
Our two shops should stop fighting each other; it will only let other rivals take our customers.
Best when both disputants are harmed and an outsider gains.